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This article focuses on the knowledge of Mantodea in French Guiana. It compiles both old and recent data from the general collection of the entomology building at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN, Paris), as well as more recent data from the private collection of the first author and samplings of the Société Entomologique Antilles-Guyane (SEAG) and samplings from the scientific mission “Our Planet Revisited” in the Mitaraka massif in 2015. All data (4424 specimens) were seized under CardObs (INPN – Inventaire national du Patrimoine naturel). Among these data, 2448 specimens, whose collection technique is known, were analyzed in order to understand the distribution, abundance and ecology of many species of Mantodea from French Guiana. The number of Mantodea species in French Guiana amounts to 90 species at present. 299 specimens were sequenced from the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase-I (COI) gene to provide the foundation for a reference library of French Guiana Mantodea DNA barcodes. 250 sequences were obtained, which include 82 BINs (“Barcode Index Number”, assimilated to species). We also highlight the problem of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts), a known problem in the barcoding of orthopteran species, and the possibility of Wolbachia infections. Finally, we discuss the possible taxonomic implications of our barcoding results and point out future research directions.
Overseas, praying mantis, biodiversity, ecology, survey, DNA barcoding, pseudogenes.